Excellent Wildlife Photographic Opportunities at ZimangaHot

Zimanga Private Game Reserve is gaining a well deserved reputation for excellent wildlife and birding photographic opportunities. Situated in the northern reaches of KwaZulu Natal and within a ten-minute drive from the town of Mkuze, it is the first reserve in Africa to be specifically designed with photographers in mind.

Lying amongst the rolling hills of Zululand and with the Mkuze River meandering through it, Zimanga Game Reserve is spread over 6000 hectares. Brilliant, unrushed sightings of Leopard, Wild Dog, Cheetah and African Elephant are regular occurrences and the bird diversity is truly amazing with over 400 species having been recorded.

During a recent two day visit, I had the privilege of spending time joining Brendon Jennings and Charl Senekal on game drives where we followed a pack of Wild Dogs as they hunted, watched a leopardess caring for her two tiny cubs in their rocky lair and sitting with a female Cheetah as she surveyed her surroundings from a termite mound. It is however in my mind, the two bird hides that provides the best opportunities for photography. In just a two hour period of sitting in the “Mkhombe Hide”, I was privileged enough to be able to photograph over twenty species of birds that came down to drink and bathe.

The hides have been specially designed so that photographers are invisible to their subjects behind specially designed one-way glass. This allows for easy photography in a comfortable setting where the hides have been placed to maximize the best lighting angles with clean and un-cluttered backgrounds. To date, only the “Mkombe and Bhejane Birding Hides are open, but work is underway to develop the “Lagoon, Vulture and the Large Mammal Hides and these will be truly exciting and worth a visit. Below is a selection of images from my recent trip that might just whet the appetite for your own visit to Zimanga.

As a dedicated conservationist, Peter Chadwick has 30 years strategic and operational conservation experience in terrestrial and marine protected area management. He has worked within all of the major biomes in southern Africa as well as having provided expert conservation advice at a global level. His conservation and wildlife photography is a natural extension to his conservation work where he has numerous opportunities to capture photographs that showcase the beauty and complexity of the outdoors. Peter’s photography is internationally recognized, with this work appearing globally in a wide range of print and electronic media.

Photographs have the power to change the world by altering the perceptions and understanding of the viewer. Conservation photography can bridge language barriers, be easily understood and can create...